By Nathan Duke
A Bayside middle school has reason to boast after a large percentage of its graduating eighth-grade class received offers to attend some of the city’s most prestigious schools.
Bell Enrichment & Long-Distance Learning Academy, at 18-25 212th St. in Bayside, recently announced that more than 75 offers to top schools were made to its graduating eighth-grade class of 113 students. Students had taken entrance exams for city private schools, Catholic schools and specialized high schools.
“We are overwhelmingly proud of the talents and accomplishments of our students at Bell Academy,” Principal Cheryl Quatrano-Hatzidimitriou said. “They are amazing young people, both in academics and in character. We look forward to hearing about their future successes.”
The Bronx High School of Science, one of the city’s most selective schools, made offers to 12 students from Bell Academy. Other students were placed at Manhattan’s Stuyvesant High School, the Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, Brooklyn Technical High School and Brooklyn Latin School.
Three students were accepted to the Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School of Music, Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, while another 34 offers were made for Bayside High School’s Science and Math Academy of Research Talent.
In addition, four students were accepted into Flushing’s Townsend Harris High School and another three were placed at Astoria’s Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. An additional 15 students received offers from St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows.
A number of the students were accepted into multiple schools. Only seven of the school’s 113 eighth-grade graduates were still waiting to get into schools.
Lisa Bongiovi, a guidance counselor at the school, said 39 percent of the school’s graduating class was offered scholarships for private schools after having taken private school entrance exams.
“It’s very impressive,” Bongiovi said. “Of the students who took the private school test, it would appear that they all got into one of their choices. And they had high scores. They didn’t just squeak in there.”
An estimated 28 percent of students were placed in specialized high schools, such as the Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech, based upon their scores.
But 100 percent of the students in the school’s general education program were accepted to at least one of the schools they had chosen.
Bell Academy, which was founded three years ago, has sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students.
The school’s focus includes using state-of-the-art technology, such as video conferencing, which is woven into all of its classes. Learning at the school is project and research-based.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
